Deportation

Chronology of Coverage

Mar. 2, 2015

Op-Ed article by Ehiracenia Vasquez, member of the Texas Organizing Project, describes her life as an undocumented immigrant mother and debilitating effect the fear of deportation has on her family; notes her deep disappointment after Texas judge temporarily halted Pres Obama's Deferred Action for Parents of Americans. MORE

Feb. 19, 2015

Immigrants gather at rallies in New York City and across the United States to protest court order halting Pres Obama's executive action on immigration; uncertainty surrounding programs, which would have potentially protected millions of undocumented immigrants from deportation, has prompted advocates to intensify outreach and educational efforts to their constituents. MORE

Jan. 19, 2015

Many Cuban nationals who have lived in United States for decades and have been convicted of crimes here fear they will be deported now that relations between countries are normalizing; as American officials meet with Cubans to discuss migration issues, some Cubans who had chose not to fight deportation orders in the past worry that decision could haunt them. MORE

Jan. 16, 2015

House passes Homeland Security funding bill that would reverse Pres Obama's executive actions allowing millions of unauthorized immigrants to stay and work in country; bill would also restore controversial Secure Communities program that Obama had cancelled, and increase its funding; Obama vows to veto measure, setting up battle between president and Republican-controlled Congress. MORE

Jan. 11, 2015

South Korea deports South Korean-born American Shin Eun-mi over supportive comments she made about her trips to North Korea; law prohibits her from returning to South Korea for five years. MORE

Jan. 7, 2015

Dec. 12, 2014

Federal lawsuit offers glimpse into potential turmoil at Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency as it moves to implement Pres Obama's sweeping immigration actions; suit brought by Patricia M Vroom, top immigration prosecutor in Arizona, contends she was subjected to bullying and harassment after she raised legal concerns about policy of prosecutorial discretion in deportation cases. MORE

Nov. 28, 2014

Tijuana Journal: Tijuana, Mexico, is promoting itself as a city on the rise, but it has long been and remains a way station for the downtrodden heading to America or kicked out of it; El Bordo is an encampment for hundreds living in hovels, lean-tos or on the pavement, and is a catch basin for the drug addicted and the deported, sometimes both, just shy of the United States-Mexico border. MORE

Nov. 25, 2014

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejects Arizona Gov Jan Brewer’s request to reconsider its ruling that blocked her policy of denying driver’s licenses to young immigrants who have avoided deportation under Obama administration policy. MORE

Nov. 23, 2014

Nicholas Kristof Op-Ed column dismantles three commonly held myths that are fueling unjustified outrage of many Americans over Pres Obama's executive action to shield millions of undocumented immigrants from deportation. MORE

Nov. 21, 2014

Pres Obama's use of executive powers to protect millions of undocumented immigrants from deportation and give them work permits is not breaking new ground, but surpasses earlier initiatives by Republican presidents; scope of his decision is raising major legal and constitutional questions. MORE

Nov. 20, 2014

Pres Obama's expected executive order allowing millions of illegal immigrants to remain and work legally in country may exclude parents of youths already granted deportation reprieve under deferred program. MORE

Nov. 20, 2014

Editorial contends President Obama is well within the law to take executive action to protect up to five million illegal immigrants from deportation, and it should be cause for relief and celebration; points out Obama is simply offering a reprieve to people trapped by the failure of Congress to act. MORE

Nov. 18, 2014

Pres Obama is poised to ignore his own longtime opposition to using executive action to shield millions of immigrants from deportation without an act of Congress; Obama has for years waved aside demands of Latino activists and Democratic allies who begged him to act on his own, but now appears set to effectively reverse that position. MORE

Nov. 17, 2014

Profile of Sara Martinez, illegal immigrant from Ecuador who lives in Brooklyn, and whose story exemplifies the kind of family ordeal that Pres Obama hopes to address with sweeping executive actions on immigration and deportation; her struggle to stay in this country helped break her family apart, and it still exacts a daily toll as she toils in a clerical job that does not require her to show work papers. MORE

Nov. 14, 2014

Obama administration officials say Pres Obama will soon exert his executive authority to order broad overhaul of immigration system, protecting up to five million illegal immigrants from deportation and giving them work permits; decision, which ignores angry Republican opposition, sets in motion political confrontation between Obama and GOP adversaries that is likely to affect budget negotiations. MORE

Nov. 11, 2014

Editorial calls on United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to grant full hearing to 11 Ecuadorian immigrants who were arrested in deplorable sting operation in Danbury, Conn, and who have been fighting deportation ever since; contends men were targeted solely because they look Latino, in clear violation of the Constitution. MORE

Nov. 7, 2014

Immigration and Latino activists and labor groups call on Pres Obama to include more than seven million people in executive measures he has announced he will initiate in 2014 that will shield immigrants who are in United States illegally from deportation. MORE

Oct. 29, 2014

Marcelo Marquez, illegal immigrant who had been deported twice, is arrainged on 14 felony counts, including murders of two sheriff's officers during shooting rampage in Northern California; federal authorities have identified Marquez as Luis Enrique Monroy Bracamontes, though charges are filed under Marcelo Marquez, name suspect offered to authorities. MORE

Oct. 16, 2014

Profile of Mohammad Sarfaraz Hussain, New Yorker from Pakistan who is poised to receive citizenship, and permanent employment with the New York Fire Dept after long struggle with immigration authorities; Hussain, who has lived in New York since he was 8 years old, was tagged for deportation at age 18 after complying with post-Sept 11 registration program, and remained locked in legal battle long after program was abandoned. MORE

Oct. 2, 2014

Homeland Security Dept reports Obama administration carried out record number of 438,421 deportations in 2013; analysis of figure shows continuing move away from removals of immigrants living in the interior of the country, toward focus on swift expulsion of those caught crossing border illegally. MORE

Oct. 1, 2014

Health and Human Services Dept announces that it will provide $9 million over two years for lawyers to represent unaccompanied minors in their deportation cases in immigration courts. MORE

Sep. 23, 2014

New York City Council, Robin Hood Foundation and New York Community Trust are combining forces to provide legal representation and other services to some 1,000 unaccompanied immigrant children facing possible deportation under a new accelerated court process; advocates for immigrants fear that the children, often fleeing abuse or gang violence, will otherwise be denied due process MORE

Sep. 9, 2014

Immigrant and Latino activists voice dismay over Pres Obama's decision to delay executive action on immigration until after midterm elections in November; in the meantime, thousands of immigrants could be deported. MORE

Sep. 5, 2014

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor is a surprise speaker at third day of monthlong training for inaugural class of Immigrant Justice Corps; corps seeks to address dearth of qualified lawyers to represent immigrants facing deportation and other legal problems. MORE

Sep. 4, 2014

Study to be published in Journal of Law and Economics concludes that six-year-old federal immigration enforcement program that has deported hundreds of thousands of people has had no observable effect on the overall crime rate; findings call into question the longstanding assumption that deporting noncitizens who commit crimes is an effective crime-control strategy. MORE

Aug. 28, 2014

Nine Mexican immigrants who agreed to be deported from Southern California during last five years under 'voluntary return' will be allowed to return to fight their expulsions under an agreement that could also include other Mexicans who consented to leave; American Civil Liberties Union argued that enforcement agents had coerced the nine into accepting voluntary return by failing to advise them of their rights or warn them of consequences. MORE

Aug. 26, 2014

Editorial holds treatment of Central American migrants in makeshift detention center in Artesia, NM, contradicts Pres Obama's promise to combine compassion with respect for the law; cites lawsuit filed by coalition of civil-rights organizations against the Obama administration that claims system is rigged so that vulnerable women and children who plead for asylum cannot get it; urges Obama to suspend all deportations until he can create system that treats migrants fairly. MORE

Aug. 24, 2014

Vanessa Manko Lives essay recounts seeing a box of the letters her grandfather sent to her grandmother while he lived in exile in Mexico, after being deported from the United States in 1920; notes poignancy of fact that her grandfather, whom she never met, and grandmother were separated for much of their lives. MORE

Aug. 23, 2014

Civil rights groups file federal lawsuit claiming that the government committed egregious due process violations against women and children held for deportation at a detention center in New Mexico; lawsuit challenges Obama administration's strategy for deterring illegal border crossings by Central American migrants. MORE

Aug. 20, 2014

Eleven people living in the United States illegally, including high-profile activist Jose Antonio Vargas, plan to apply for deportation deferrals as part of effort to pressure Pres Obama to include millions of immigrants in any executive action to reduce deportations. MORE

Aug. 15, 2014

Fifty-five children appear before Judge F James Loprest Jr in New York City as part of Justice Dept's new accelerated court process for deportations; process is cornerstone of Obama administration's strategy to deal with surge of unaccompanied minors from Central America; service providers say that experience has been remarkably smooth. MORE

Aug. 10, 2014

Editorial contends Pres Obama is well within his authority to use executive action to protect many unauthorized immigrants from deportation; reprimands Obama's critics in Congress, who have chosen to do nothing constructive about immigration. MORE

Aug. 7, 2014

Case of Miguel Feliz, convicted murderer from Dominican Republic who became high-value government witness by pleading guilty and helping authorities solve about 30 homicides, ignites debate about how to aid criminals who turn informants; Feliz now faces deportation after completing his sentence, and says his life is at risk if authorities renege on deal to help him obtain special visa to stay in United States. MORE

Aug. 5, 2014

The Upshot; House vote to effectively end Pres Obama's program to defer deportations of undocumented children is unlikely to hurt the Republican party in midterm elections because Hispanic voters are underrepresented in close races. MORE

Aug. 5, 2014

Advocacy groups for immigrants are rushing to prepare for special new court procedures in New York City that will accelerate deportation hearings for unaccompanied minors and families with children who have arrived in surge from Central America; immigrants could be deported in a matter of months rather than years, which is the usual time frame in an overburdened immigration court system. MORE

Jul. 17, 2014

News analysis; crisis on border with Mexico is rapidly overtaking Pres Obama's plans to use executive action to reshape nation's immigration system, forcing him to confront new complications; influx of Central American children is leading him to focus on deportations at the moment he was preparing to allow more undocumented people to stay. MORE

Jul. 9, 2014

Justice Dept officials announce nation's immigration courts will make major shift in priorities to place unaccompanied minors and families with children first in line to go before immigration judges; shift would mean such migrants could have cases resolved within months instead of two or three years, but at least half of about 375,000 deportation cases already in backlog would be delayed significantly longer as a result. MORE

Jul. 6, 2014

Sheriffs around nation are openly rejecting Obama administration policy of holding non-citizens accused of crimes for extra time, enabling government to start deportation proceedings for thousands of immigrants; resistance started after federal judge in Oregon ruled sheriff had violated immigrant woman's civil rights by holding her solely at request of federal agents; local law enforcement resistance is limiting federal ability to enforce immigration laws. MORE

Jul. 4, 2014

Editorial urges Pres Obama to do his utmost, within the law, to limit damage done by obsolete and unjust immigration system that is deporting the wrong people, stifling businesses, damaging families and hurting the economy; contends Obama should begin by shifting focus of system away from deportation and closer toward balance. MORE

Jul. 1, 2014

Editorial supports Pres Obama's request for additional resources to address surge of child migrants crossing the Southwest border; warns against changing the law protecting those minors from summary deportation in order to send a tough message; holds Pres Obama must abandon his aggressive deportation tactics and Congress must resume stalled talks on comprehensive immigration reform. MORE

Jun. 29, 2014

Pres Obama will seek emergency appropriation of $2 billion from Congress to control surge of illegal Central American migrants at South Texas border; will also ask for broader powers for immigration officials to speed deportations of children caught crossing without their parents. MORE

Jun. 25, 2014

Initiative that would provide municipal identification cards to all New Yorkers, including those without legal immigration status, has been finalized and will come before City Council; council is also slated to earmark $4.9 million to provide lawyer for every poor, foreign-born resident who is facing deportation. MORE

Jun. 21, 2014

White House officials, saying misinformation about administration policies has helped drive surge of illegal migrants from Central America across South Texas border, announce plans to detain more of them and to accelerate their court cases so as to deport them more quickly; Department of Homeland Security officials are rushing to open more detention centers intended for families with children. MORE

Jun. 7, 2014

Obama administration says it is starting a program to deal with the soaring number of unaccompanied minors illegally crossing the border from Mexico; under plan, federal government will issue $2 million in grants to enroll about 100 lawyers and paralegals to represent immigrant children making their way through the immigration court system. MORE

May. 30, 2014

Timing of President Obama’s decision to delay any deportation policy changes with a roundup of 21 illegal aliens in Milwaukee intensifies angry rift over strategy among groups fighting for an immigration overhaul; uproar erupts on social media among groups representing immigrants who do not have residency papers. MORE

May. 30, 2014

New York City Bar Association releases study asserting that cost should not be an obstacle to creation of a public defender system, paid for by the federal government, for indigent immigrants facing deportation; reports says program would pay for itself by saving about the same amount in reduced government expenditures to detain and remove immigrants and in other savings. MORE

May. 29, 2014

Supporters of New York City-financed pilot program to help immigrants facing deportation are seeking $5.3 million to expand project, which has provided free legal representation to many who might not have otherwise received assistance; Mayor Bill de Blasio did not set aside any money for project in proposed 2014 budget, but says discussions will be included in final negotiations with City Council. MORE

May. 29, 2014

Editorial scores Pres Obama for delaying Homeland Security Dept review of country's immigration policies in order to give Congress another chance to work out compromise legislation; holds that entire process has been stalled for too long, and expresses doubt that Congress will overcome political differences enough to take meaningful action. MORE